We’ve got to keep the faith, says Lillicrap
SKIPPER Siwan Lillicrap says Wales must keep faith that results will eventually come their way.
Wales face Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday on the back of a 53-0 thumping against semi-professional France.
It took Wales’ losing streak to six games, their last win coming against invitational side Crawshays in 2019.
“We’ve got to believe in and trust the process that we’re building something special,” said Lillicrap. “I don’t like losing, that’s the reality. “I don’t think anyone does, especially wearing that badge that means so much to us.”
Wales have had some turbulent times since the autumn internationals of 2019, when they came away with victories over Ireland and Scotland in the aftermath of Rowland Phillips’ sudden departure as head coach. But with a settled squad and a new management team led by Warren Abrahams, Lillicrap believes they are on the right track.
“As players we truly believe we are, from the feeling in camp, how we bounce off each other, how we’re training,” she told BBC Sport Wales.
“The reality is we’re early on our journey, so we’ve got to take faith in that, we’ve got to take pride in that.”
Lillicrap, who has been captain since 2019, believes the “team culture, morale and unity” is the best it has ever been.
“We can turn to anyone in the squad and we look out for each other,” she said.
“I absolutely believe in every individual on that pitch and they will never give less than 100 per cent in effort.”
Reflecting on the loss against France in last weekend’s Six Nations opener, she admitted there had been some tough reviews, but was proud the way the players had responded.
“There were a lot of emotions after the game and there was nobody more disappointed than us. We were absolutely gutted, but we’ve taken a lot of lessons from that,” Lillicrap added.
“The girls have been outstanding this week. We could have gone into ourselves but we’ve expressed ourselves.
“All the work we’ve done on our culture, what Warren has brought into that side of things, helps us to be able to dust ourselves off and get back on that pitch.”